Communist Romania

The Soviets pressed for inclusion of Romania's heretofore negligible Communist Party in the post-war government, while non-communist political leaders were steadily eliminated from political life. King Michael abdicated under pressure in December 1947, when the Romanian People's Republic was declared, and went into exile.

Downfall

Unlike the Soviet Union at the same time, Romania did not develop a large, privileged elite. Outside of Ceau?escu's own relatives, government officials were frequently rotated from one job to another and moved around geographically, to reduce the chance of anyone developing a power base. This prevented the rise of the Gorbachev-era reformist communism found in Hungary or the Soviet Union. Similarly, unlike in Poland, Ceau?escu reacted to strikes entirely through a strategy of further oppression. Those who tried to warn him against this policy were treated as criminals.

Related Topics:
Gorbachev - Poland

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Romania was nearly the last of the Eastern European communist regimes to fall; its fall was also the most violent up to that time. Although the events of December 1989 are much in dispute, the following is at least a reasonable outline.

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Protests and riots broke out in Timi?oara on December 17 soldiers opened fire on the protesters, killing about 100 people. After cutting short a two-day trip to Iran, Ceau?escu held a televised speech on December 20, in which he condemned the events of Timi?oara, considering them an act of foreign intervention in the internal affairs of Romania and an aggression through foreign Secret Services on Romania's sovereignty, and declared National Curfew, convoking a mass meeting in his support in Bucharest for the next day. The uprising of Timi?oara became known across the country and in the morning of December 21 protests spread to Sibiu, Bucharest, and elsewhere. On December 21 the meeting at the CC Building in Bucharest turned into chaos and finally into riot, Ceau?escu hiding himself in the CC Building after losing control of his own "supporters". On the morning of the next day, December 22, it was announced that the army general Vasile Milea was dead by suicide; people were besieging the CC Building, while the Securitate did nothing to help Ceau?escu. Ceau?escu soon fled in an helicopter from the rooftop of the CC Building, only to find himself abandoned in Târgovi?te, where he was finally formally tried and shot by a kangaroo court on December 25.

Related Topics:
Timi?oara - December 17 - Iran - December 20 - December 21 - Sibiu - December 22 - Târgovi?te - Kangaroo court - December 25

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Controversy over the events of December 1989

Much more open to question is what may have been going on behind the scenes. At what point did which leaders of the army and police abandon Ceau?escu? Had they merely decided that Ceau?escu had become a liability, or did they genuinely want deeper change? How long before taking power on December 22, 1989 did the National Salvation Front (FSN ? Frontul Salvarii Nationale), composed entirely of figures from the old regime, begin organizing itself and to what degree? (Some conjecture that the formation may date back as far as 1982.) Who was shooting at whom, and which side did they think they were serving? (At one point there was a battle over Otopeni Airport near Bucharest where each side apparently thought the other was fighting on behalf of Ceau?escu.)

Related Topics:
December 22 - 1989 - National Salvation Front - 1982

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For several months after the events of December 1989, it was widely argued that Ion Iliescu and the FSN had merely taken advantage of the chaos to stage a coup. While, ultimately, a great deal did change in Romania, it is still very contentious among Romanians and other observers as to whether this was their intent from the outset, or merely pragmatic playing of the cards they were dealt. Clear is that by December 1989 Ceau?escu's harsh and counterproductive economic and political policies had cost him the support of many government officials and even the most loyal Communist Party cadres, most of whom joined forces with the popular revolution or simply refused to support him. This loss of support from regime officials ultimately set the stage for Ceau?escu's demise.

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